Matchbox Monday arrives at 2025 Working Rigs batch A

2025 sees Matchbox slightly alter the case count of the Working Rigs models. Previously, they were sold in boxes of 8 models, whereas now they are going to be sold in boxes of 6. The same amount of models are still planned to be released. 16. But now, when a batch arrives, it won't be 2 per model, but will now be 2 of 2, and 1 of the other 2. Hopefully, the singles per batch will be carry forwards. Because they do seem to like putting a lot of carry forwards in this series. Out of a series of 16, less than half will be new to the mix. I honestly don't think they are putting enough of an effort into this range. Especially when carry forwards are the majority. In the old days, when it was "Real" Working Rigs, all models would be new to the mix. Since they brought it back, I just feel like it is sort of there. Not really making an impression.  16 is not a big number to begin with, let alone sifting through those already out before, and hunting down the few new nuggets.  Luckily, this batch is one of the better ones. We have 2 new additions, combines with 2 carry forwards. So, let's get going.

We start with number 1 of 16 for the 2025 series. The RW040 Cement King HD. This gets a brand new look for 2025 in yellow.

And of course, this is the MBX Construction look.  This recurring theme launched with huge fanfare in 2023, and is showing no sign of letting up. Which is something I like. I do love a recurring theme. 

However, I do have one minor gripe. Usually, when we get a cement mixer in the series, the barrel gets a tampo hit which usually gets doubled up, so whichever way you look at the model, you will be able to rotate the barrel and have it reading the right way. It doesn't here. Is it a silly gripe? Yes, but it is the sort of thing I am used to seeing, but it wasn't done here. Which is a bit of a shame. 

It may be a Matchbox originals casting, but I thoroughly enjoy it. It looks so realistic. And to be honest, having seen some of the real cement trucks on the roads, I think it is nicer than some of the licensed ones. I love a recurring theme as well, so this is going to score well. I am only knocking off a half point for the barrel livery not being reversible. It is not a big thing. So, that gives it a 9.5 out of 10. A very respectable score. 

As I said, this took over from the RW001 Mercedes-Benz Actros Cement Mixer, which helped launch the range back in 2009. But, if I had to choose between the 2, I am going to go with this one. It has a "King" recurring look for castings.

As this look is also in use on another Working Rig. The RW051 Garbage King XL. 

It is slightly different, but has the same style of front grille, which really adds to the realism of the casting. Plus, we have a bunch of "King" basics that feature a similar look. It is almost like its own recurring theme.

And it is nice to see a new look to this one. It has appeared 4 times previously. King Concrete was the debut in 2019, repeated again in 2022. 

While RWR Cement Co was the 2021 release, repeating again in 2024.

Although the 2024 release saw a noticeably different paint job.  A much thinner, almost bright white look, compared to the thicker creamier look of the 2021 release.

So, we saw 2 looks, 2 years apart, then both got repeated, again 2 years apart. By my calculation, that means a new look for 2027, then this coming back in 2028, and the next look recurring in 2030? Ha ha! Give us a Ranec look! Or INC!

Ooh! A brand new casting. Another Matchbox originals casting, but again, this does look good. It is the RW054 MBX Flame Blaster. It takes the number 2 slot in the series.

I thought I would start with the base shot, just to be different. Very simple. No detailing, apart from the wording. 

But that is not the case with the model itself. They have put a lot of effort into this casting. It may be an original casting, but I see a few similarities between this and the Rosenbauer Panther 6x6. I think that was their main source of inspiration. 

But, that is not the best part. This model has a little trick up its sleeve. 

It extends. How cool is that?  Sure, there is quite a lot of plastic involved in the creation of this casting, but it is still pretty heavy. 

There are some metal elements to it. They have not gone down a fully plastic route. I do wonder if that will ever happen in the future. You can't say it never will, although, as I am not fussed about the plastic vs metal parts, I do think a certain metal content should still be each casting. I like that the extended area was not left blank. They made sure to add details into it. I honestly don't know if any real airport fire tenders have this ability. do I care? Nope! I like it on the model.

Oh, yeah, the nozzle moves as well. I was having so much fun pulling the model out and back in, I forgot to check other parts. I think it has been well constructed, as I repeatedly pulled it out, and at no time did I think it was going to break. It is solid.

I am trying to think how many passes through the tampo machine this has received. The front cab area gets 3. The middle metal section gets 2. The rear plastic section also gets 2. A total of 7 passes through the tampo machine. Wow! A decent showing. The livery itself is simple and effective. Sure, it is not a recurring look, but not everything has to be. I do wonder if it will see a recurring theme for a future outing. 

I am seriously impressed with this casting. It is one of their best original designs for a casting. As I said, it looked a little like a Rosenbauer, but it didn't need to be. Why pay for a licence when they can do something just as good. After all, not that many people will be able to list airport fire tenders. You get a car on the road, and many know the make and model of that car. Once you get into the utility vehicle side of things, knowledge becomes a little thinner on the ground. Most will say fire truck, cement truck etc. They go by what it does before attempting to name it. So, seeing more original designs in working rigs is not an issue to me. I am scoring this a 10 for inclusion. I think it is a great addition to the line. They had a Colet K/30 Jaguar in the early days (2010-12), but it has not been seen since the series returned in 2018. I think this more than makes up for it. Again, I think this is nicer. And they didn't have to pay for a licence. Win-win.  Casting, well I think you might be guessing that as well. Another 10. Realistic, and with such a fun feature. I don't see how they could have done more with it. I suppose they could have created the nozzle on top with a pivot point? But, that was not really necessary. I am fine with a single piece for a nozzle. Design. Again, realistic, and with so many passes through the tampo machine, I think they have done themselves proud with this one. Another 10. Wait, a perfect 30 out of 30? Well, that shows how good this one is. 

Now, after 2 new items, it appears we are down to the repeats. The RW020 MBX Road Grader is next up on the docket. It takes the number 6 slot in the series, in a yellow livery that was seen before. 

In fact, this is a repeat of the debut look for the model, when it arrived in 2011. KRIN. I have no idea what that stands for. But, the yellow was always a popular choice for a construction vehicle. So, they can't go too wrong.

And, let's face it, when it comes to repeating a look, 14 years does seem like long enough. I have often stated how I feel at least 5 years should go between runs. As these are, at the end of the day, children's toys, and kids tend to rotate in an out roughly every 5 years. So, bringing back a look after longer than 5 years does mean that they are opening up said look to a new kid market. Adult collectors on the other hand? We may not be so kind. However, as many know, I did not bother with the early years with these.  It was only after Wheel Collectors started sending them over for me to blog about that I decided to get them. Which means my collection is mainly from this decade. 

So, scoring this is a little tough. Being a repeat, I don't feel it deserves top marks. But it is a very good look, and extremely realistic. With a 14 year gap between runs, I don't think it should have much taken off either, so I am scoring it a 9. Only losing a mark for being a repeat. 

The follow up to KRIIN appeared in 2012, again in 2015, and yet again in 2021. So, with 3 runs, I think it is about time they did the original. 

Especially as when the series returned, this saw a new yellow outing in 2019, which itself was repeated in 2022. 

And, in 2023, this saw the MBX Construction theme during its debut year. 

And that does mean I have all the different versions of the casting to date. I can see them repeating the MBX Construction one at some point soon. I hope to see another livery. Ranec? INC? Yes, I am repeating what I wrote about the Cement Truck. I don't want the MBX Construction theme to wipe out the other 2. I want it to be in line with them. 

Which brings me to the final model in the batch. Wait, is this another construction model? Is it me, or was this batch perhaps a little construction heavy? Shouldn't they have attempted to spread the construction vehicles out a little better? After all, the second batch has 1 (a dump truck), and a Scraper, another Dump Truck and a new Backhoe are currently being teased (although plans may change). Which means almost half the series is devoted to the construction field. Therefore, they could have spread them a little better. 2 per batch at most. Just to try and keep things more interesting. If you are not into construction, this batch was a bit of a downer. Still, enough complaining, let's get on with the RW028 MBX Excavator. It takes the number 14 slot in 2025 in white, with black and orange. Wait, is this a Ranec?

Sadly, no. It was a repeat of the debut look from 2012, which was after Ranec had been introduced. But, for some reason, this went with a 7400E design. Whatever that means. 

This model does have a lot of playability. That extending arm is extremely well crafted. There are a number of moving parts to that piece. And with the model being able to rotate on the platform, it does do a great job. And, again, being an original design is not important. But, it is not Ranec! So close, yet so far.

I think this deserves a Ranec outing. Plus, I see this as a candidate for a future MBX Construction livery. Just think, if they had put it in a different mix, they could have done that this year. Again, being a repeat from 2012 means it is a 13 year gap between production, so is not a bad carry forward in my eyes. But, for all the carry forwards, this is a little more disappointing than others.  I am scoring it an 8. 

I am still shocked they gave this a National Parks outing. Before Ranec! And the other construction themes. So, as I am pretty much done, I thought I would finish by going through a classic that is linked in with what I have been going on about. 

This is the MB032 Excavator. As I have been talking about, this batch has been chock full of Matchbox originals castings. Not one of these 4 have been licensed. Did you notice that? They all looked very realistic. And that is because very few people know any real manufacturers of these. I sure as hell wouldn't be able to list off the companies that make these. Those that do are either really into that specific type of vehicle, or are related to somebody who works for a company that makes them or uses them. But, when it comes to this little casting, did anybody know that it was a real one? This was an Atlas 1702 Crawler Excavator. Atlas had been around since 1919, making various construction equipment, based in Germany. The 1602 and 1702 Excavators of the 1970s were some of the leading excavators of the time, and Lesney decided to add a model of the Atlas to the 1981 basic range. However, after initially marking it up as an Atlas, this was quickly wiped from the casting. 

Early examples has the Atlas logo imprinted on the rear of the casting. However, before the end of that first year, the name had been wiped off, and a grille added in its place.

Again, the base saw the same thing happen. The first runs saw Atlas Excavator on it, but this was later altered to just Excavator. If you really want to go nuts with variations, the body was altered after the base. So you can find an Excavator base with Atlas on the rear, but not the other way round. Shades of orangey red appeared through the year (mine are both). The platform the body clips into can also be found in either black or charcoal. 

For 1982, along with many other construction vehicles, the model turned yellow with Cat logos. Another small casting alteration took place. The small stack on the front right corner of the raised rear part was flattened down, although early examples of yellow may be found with the raised stack. There is also supposedly a crossover with the last of the grey bases from the 1981 orangey red being used up on yellow. Although I have only seen it with black bases.

By the end of the year, the CAT and "C" logo on the side were dropped, leaving just the black stripes along the top. This was how the model stayed until 1991! 

However, with such a long run, there was bound to be a number of variations. for starters, at the end of 1982, it was still made in England. In early 1983, production moved to Macau, where it continued until the factory in closed in 1990, although the US market did not sell it in 1988 or 1989, returning it in a new MB6 slot in 1990. It was then moved to Thailand for the remainder of production. A couple of tiny tweaks were made to the casting. Circa 1988, a brace was added under the arm. Circa 1989, casting lines were removed from the right side. Circa 1990, the easiest to see, the step leading into the cab was flattened. That is what I show here. 

However, although it was run for such a long time, there was an additional look for the UK market. A G-3 JCB gift set saw a unique model. There were 2 runs. One in early 1988 where the model had its original parts from before the 3 changes, and another run in 1990 just before the Macau factory closed, where it was in the final iteration of the casting (at that time). 

For 1992, they went with a radical overhaul. the bucket was now red, as were the red stripes. This ran another 3 years. Minor shades of yellow and red bucket can be found. 

For 1995, gone were the long-running looks, and so began the vast livery changes. the basic range saw the model turn red. This featured black stripes over the top, but for 1996, those stripes were removed.

It was also added to the first Construction 5-pack. This was a bright orange, almost the same orange as the arm on the new Working Rig. 

For 1997, the model turned orange in the basic range, using the same livery as 1995 (returning the black stripes), and for the USA market, was also given a gold Challenge model.

And in 1998, the model turned green for the basic range. Again, using the same tampo as 1995/1997. During production, the casting moved from Thailand to China. I should point out that a plain pumpkin with black arm and pumpkin bucket was also created this year for use as an ASAP blank. I do not have one (yet). 

For 1999, the basic range was split 3 ways.  US and ROW markets were now joined by an exclusive German range. US and ROW markets saw this latest look, but the German market did not include it.

For 2000, it was back worldwide again in yellow. The USA market saw the first 10,000 sport a Matchbox 2000 logo.

It was also found in a 2001 Sandcastle playset. However, the mud spray was no longer blotchy, and now a smoother dusting. Plus, did you notice the bucket on the front is black? Another small change for the Sandcastle set. 

2000 was actually the model's final year in the basic range, but it was (and still is) not done with). In 2001, it was in grey in a Construction Heroes 5-pack.

The Construction Heroes 5-pack returned for 2003, although the models included were all now in brighter colours. This was now blue with a bright yellow arm and bucket.

After a few years out, it returned in 2006. For the early part of the decade, we saw Launcher sets paired with 10-packs in batches through the years. But, for 2006, they dropped launchers and just had themed sets. The Excavator was in a Construction Zone set. After 2006, the accompanying sets to 10-packs were also dropped, and we simply had 10-packs from then-on (later 9-packs, now 8-packs).

After another year on the sidelines, it was a model included in a special series that Matchbox were doing. They were selling DVD sets. The Construction Kings DVD had this included. After this, the model seemingly went into retirement. 

But, no. After a decade, the tooling was cost-reduced to make the arm and bucket a single piece, as well as a little further re-tooling to the platform and base area, and the model returned in the 2018 Ocean Works 5-pack. This model was carried forward into a 2022 MBX Construction III 5-pack.

This model then got an INC outing in the MBX Construction 5-pack in 2019. Yay! 

And look, this model was last used in the 2024 MBX Construction V 5-pack in a Ranec livery! Woohoo! This shows that Ranec is still going. Now, we just need to see this larger Excavator get the Ranec look. And INC. And MBX Construction. And I also wonder if the little one should get a National Parks outing? If the big one did, why can't baby brother? Oh, so many possibilities to look forward to.

And, on that bewildering note, I think I am done for another week. Just the 1 new casting. Only 1 of 2 planned for this year. 

And 3 construction vehicles, only 1 being in a new look. But, granted, the other 2 are in very old looks brought forward. 

Next week I return to the smaller models. I hope you enjoyed my jaunt through the bigger ones (as well as a classic little one that I dived back through). Until then, I hope everybody has a safe and happy week.